Rajasthan high court stays quota for Gujjars, asks government to justify reservation

In a setback to Gujjars, the Rajasthan high court today stayed the operation of an Act granting 5%reservation for them and directed the state government to undertake a data collection exercise to justify the quota for members of the community.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Mahesh Bhagwati asked the government to complete the quantifiable data collection exercise within a year to justify the quota for Gujjars under the Special Backward Class (SBC) category.

Disposing of a bunch of writ petitions challenging the 2008 Act, the court also stayed the provision of one per cent reservation given to Gujjars in the ongoing recruitment drive in government jobs.

Under the 2008 Act, Gujjars, Gadia Luhars, Raibaris, Banjaras and other castes were given 5% quota under the SBC while 14% was reserved for Economically Backward Classes (EBC).